COLE'S ARCADE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXIX, Issue 9492, 4 January 1919, Page 3

COLE'S ARCADE.

The death is announced in Melbourne of Mr. E. W. Cole, at the :.&« of eighty-six. Mr. Cole, who rose from penury to affluence, was, the founder, of the famous "Cole's l\\,ok. .Ajcdie. '

It was only during the loaf few lmiijtliS • ha^his health began t-j faJ. and that, the manageni'siii of ii~o r An-ade ' was left to Mr. W. T. Pyke '-Mr ToJe was born at \Voodclnit"^, a liu!e \>JJag«? in', Kent, in Jan :>»ry, ISO 2. .. When his , mother ro-.mam •■■! he li'i^ Lome,- at<J alter,a miseraole nine, m London joined, the army, do g:uw ti:Vd of" on? 1-; racks life, and art loj Soi/'tL Africa ;s>si the age of eighteen : In 1853 he embarked for Australia, where at various times he worked as a prospector, a carpenter, a bush photogaphei' and a sel-, ler of "soft" drinks and fruit. In 1866 he joined the public library at Sydney, and a little later at Melbourne. Alter two years he opened, a small business in Paddy's Market, where he supplied the market gardeners with early morning refreshment and lent them secondhand books. On August 9, 1875, he married Miss Eliza Frances Jordan, with whom he became acquainted through a matrimonial advertisement.. Mr. Gole opened .the present Arcade on Cup Day, 1883, and since then some; of his compilations, including "Cole's Funny Picture Book," the "Fun Doc-! tor," the "Thousand Best Poems" and. the "Intellect Sharpener" have been , enormously successful: Cole's Book [ Arcade was reputed to be the most complete book store in the world, and in addition to the endless shelves of new books there was an : extensive sec-ond-hand department, containing many rare and valuable tomes. A feature of the Arcade, which extended from Collins Street to Bourke Street, across two blocks, was that the general public were permitted to sit and read any books, new or old, so that the place was largely used as a reference library. In later years, however, the opening of toy and fancy departments in the Arcade lowered its value to some extent as a book depot.